Best practices for ensuring product quality and authenticity
Amazon’s policies for product quality and authenticity help us create a trustworthy shopping experience and ensure that customers receive items in the condition they expect. This is one of the factors that contributes to a positive score on your Account Health Dashboard. To you keep your account in good health, we’re sharing best practices which will help you create a consistent buying experience.
How can I tell if my products are authentic and from a reliable source?
Make sure you know your supplier. Reduce the risk of complaints by researching the manufacturers, resellers, and suppliers from whom you purchase goods. Take time to check the products you source before you sell them to ensure that they are authentic and that the product and all associated parts work as expected and are free of any damage..
What types of documentation should I keep?
Keep all documents and records of transactions, such as purchase orders and invoices establishing that you sourced products from reliable suppliers.
How can I list products correctly?
When you are offering a branded product that is already listed, make sure you list it under the corresponding ASIN. Offering a product on an ASIN communicates to customers that you are offering that specific item with those specific characteristics.
If your product is generic, do not list the product under a branded ASIN. When listing a product with a specific version or language, make sure you list it under the correct ASIN.
If you are selling a product that has additional listing qualifications, you will be required to apply to sell those products through Seller Central.
How should I describe my products?
When selling generic products that are compatible with a branded product, make sure it is clear that your generic item is not a product of that brand.
Clearly state whether your products are in new, used, or refurbished condition and list your products under the most appropriate Amazon category.
Provide detailed and accurate information about the product you are selling, including information such as product language, country version, or edition, where applicable.
How should my products be stored and packed?
Store your products in a manner that will prevent breakage and damage to the product or packaging. Consumables must be stored in the appropriate manner to maintain freshness. Always check the expiration date before sending the product to fulfillment centers to ensure it complies with our policies. If you are fulfilling the product yourself, check the expiration date to ensure it has additional shelf life.
Pack products carefully and include all parts of the product. Buyers expect to receive products in their original packaging and in the condition listed. If you purchased your inventory in bulk and the items are unpacked, be sure to inform customers. See more on Packaging best practices.
For additional information, see Amazon's Intellectual Property Policy, Best Practices for Listing Quality Improvements, Product Listing Guidelines, and Condition Guidelines.
Seller_upIXHlz6LnywQ
What is the best way to get Amazon to investigate a seller that sells generic items on branded pages? Sometimes a seller will even brazenly state in the Q&A on an ASIN that their product is a generic, but when reported to Amazon, they seem to do nothing. My experiences with Amazon’s Report a Violation tool have thus far been extremely negative, causing entire listings to be shut down rather than simply removing the offending offers or data contributions.
If an item’s brand is not registered, it seems there is little protection at all from bad data or inauthentic items. Maybe Amazon can come up with a logo to tell the customer that a brand page belongs to an Amazon-registered brand. That may give the buyer some confidence that the listing is being monitored for authenticity by more than just Amazon.
Amazon needs to require brand owners to publish contact information so that third party sellers can contact the brands directly to request review/removal of inauthentic offers and offending sellers, and removal of inaccurate descriptions and images. Amazon merely telling us they have “forwarded the information to the brand owner and there is nothing else we need to do” just doesn’t cut it when there are glaring errors on a listing. It is especially problematic when Amazon claims that a page is under brand owner control when I know for a fact that the brand owner is not registered with Amazon. It leaves such a feeling of helplessness when a listing gets corrupted and all of the proof in the world has no effect on the email-only team I am trying to communicate with.
Seller_Whe9JeCjvym0J
It is unacceptable that for most situation about the “Used products sold as new” complaints, the main cause is that Amazon restocks returned items to sellable inventory without checking through, when some of the returned items are actually used by the former customers, they received such complaints.
